TOTALLY bizarre. That's the only way to describe last weekend's scenario which thankfully led to our safe passage into the second round of the West of Scotland Cup.

Our trip to Newmains United was certain to fall foul of the weather so the two clubs agreed to stage what was a first in the long and distinguished history of Johnstone Burgh.

The match was staged indoors at the Ravenscraig sports complex in Motherwell.

This gargantuan building has seen the famous old steel works plant turned into something of a football factory.

And while there have been a handful of junior matches staged here before, this was the first glimpse I had of competitive indoor football. And I'm not convinced.

Burgh boys have a look around the indoor pitch

Yes I'm a Luddite, I accept that. I hate astrograss and so the thought of playing a competitive match on an artificial pitch with a roof on top horrified me.

Just as well I wasn't even stripped for Saturday's match then due to a shoulder injury. That's what the gaffer said anyway but my team mates insist it was more to do with the danger my kick outs posed to the Ravenscraig roof.

And therein lies the most bizarre part of this whole experience. Three times the game had to be stopped for a bounce ball because it had struck the huge metal support beams keeping the building in place.

Talk about the importance of the occasion being killed in an instant!

I know Celtic played under a roof at the Amsterdam ArenA on Wednesday evening but even the Incredible Hulk would struggle to hit the roof in that huge venue.

Of course there are positives to the Ravenscraig facility. The venue meant we got the fixture played and out the way. We won 8-0 by the way so it obviously suited our neat style of play.

And I totally accept indoor facilities are crucial for developing future generations of footballers. The complex also has six 5-a-side pitches, an athletics track, a gym, two dance studios and outdoor facilities too.

In the grand scheme of things it's tremendous.

But not for competitive football. Above all else there was only seating for about 100-200 so big game attendances would suffer seriously.

Just getting a game out the way doesn't really sell our grade very well. I did a quick straw-poll of our fans and team mates and while delighted with the result I think we'll all be happy to get back out in the wind, rain.. and grass.

Rant over. Imagine what I'd be like had we lost?

It's back to real green stuff this weekend and we face a hugely important trip to Possil to take on fellow strugglers Glasgow Perthshire.

In the top division Petershill host Cumnock and Arthurlie welcome high flying Hurlford to Dunterlie while Pollok travel back to Ayrshire to take on Irvine Meadow looking to recover from Saturday's 5-1 thumping at Hurlford.